George Filopoulos and Jersey City Medical CenterA proposed bill awaiting approval in the New Jersey Senate would allow the state to join 31 others in providing property tax incentives to developers working on historic buildings, highlighting the role that the public sector is playing in private construction projects, according to the Wall Street Journal. Developer George Filopoulos is hopeful that it will be approved and help him continue his redevelopment of the old Jersey City Medical Center into a 14-acre mixed-use complex that he has named the Beacon. The conversion of the 10-building medical complex could qualify for as much as $87 million in tax credits. “Especially today, anything we can do to reduce the amount we have to borrow from the bank is essential,” Filopoulos said. [more]

When development group Metrovest Equities first envisioned the 17-floor Mercury Lofts condominium building in Jersey City, it pictured its restoration leading to a 104-unit tower, a perfect companion to the Rialto and the Capital, the two other buildings in the Beacon condominium cluster. But Mercury Lofts, which recently launched sales, doesn’t exactly reflect the original plans, according to George Filopoulos, president of Metrovest. “We were about 50 percent through the restoration,” Filopoulos said. “What we did was, we stopped construction, we asked ourselves, ‘do we want to have inventory that’s similar to other condos [in Jersey City]?’” [more]

Jersey City’s Beacon condominium, one of the largest historical restoration projects ever begun in the state, will be the first luxury condo in the Hudson River area to auction off some of its units. Twenty-five units in the two-tower complex will be sold at auction June 27, with suggested starting bids of $150,000 to $250,000. The units were originally on the market for between $380,000 and $700,000. Twelve of them will be sold no matter how little bidders are willing to pay for them. Developer George Filopoulos of Metrovest Equities may sell the other 13 units for whatever highest bid comes in or set a minimum price, depending on how the first dozen sales go. Comments

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